In the game of hopscotch, a player employs an object to throw into each successive chalked box he/she is trying to pass through. (Some schoolyards had painted hopscotch lines, a real challenge for smaller, younger players.) That object, his/her token, is a player's potsy. In some games potsies required the approval of all players as some potsies were perceived to give a player an unfair advantages.

Player 1: I'll use my wallet as a potsy.

Player 2: Too flat and heavy. It's too much of a sure thing. Pick something else.

Potsy is a variation of Hopscotch. The way it was played in New York in the 1950s was on a chalked grid of alternating one an two squares. The grid has only 8 squares compared to Hopscotch's 10 or 12, rendering the game a little easier. Any small object can be the marker, a rock, flattened tin can or nearly anything else small enough and heavy enough to toss-- is thrown onto the grid and must land in each square in sequence. The term Potsy refers to the throwing item as well as the game itself. The player jumps from one to two feet up to the grid skipping the square holding the potsy. She then jumps to turn around and jumps back the same way. Missing your throw, losing your balance or stepping on a line causes the player to lose a turn. A potsy landing on a line is considered "out". The player goes until a turn is lost. First one to finish the grid wins.

The girls didn't have enough chalk to draw the entire Hopscotch grid so they agreed to play Potsy instead.